The Legend of Zelda: Reborn
by Rajeela
Summary: This is an epic story about battles on top of mountains and a love that lasts throughout centuries and leaps through time and obnoxious fairies; the continuing Legend of Zelda in the modern world
1. Prologue

It was a perfectly innocent winter night.

Snow had begun to unhurriedly flurry down from the silvery clouds. Ms. Dodd walked down the sidewalk, humming

carols to herself and gazing around at the decorative lights. She rubbed her hands together and tried to cover them in

her sleeves. It was especially bitingly cold tonight But the warm welcoming lights coming from houses along the road

compensated for the chill.

On such a wide open night, containing only the faint haze of sleepy snowflakes, there was an opportunity for music.

Ms. Dodd's crooked hands gingerly took out an oval-shaped instrument from her sweater pocket. She carried it with

her most everywhere; it was her prized possession. The ocarina was a gift from her dear grandmother, as were the

songs Ms. Dodd knew. Soon the nearly empty night was filled with the shy notes of a song her grandmother had

called the "Earth God's Lyric." The world seemed to sigh at the beautiful tune.

The moment the lyric ended, Ms. Dodd found herself stopped next to an alley where shadows of cats and rats could

often be witnessed. One cardboard box caught her attention, for no reason that she could tell. Ms. Dodd slipped the

ocarina back into her sleeve.

"Mew!"

She jumped, and then carefully walked toward the box. Inside the box was a little kitten, with matted brown fur and

large eyes.

"Oh," Ms. Dodd crooned, "you poor thing. Shall I take you home?"

The cat made no objection, so she painstakingly bent over and picked up the box. The kitten looked up at her with

pleading eyes, enough to make someone melt, and meowed again. But this time, it was deeper in pitch. The woman

stared at it in befuddlement.

Suddenly, its eyes flashed fiery orange, and it grinned. "Thanks much," it said lowly.

The ocarina fell to the ground, making a sharp clinking sound that reverberated off of the clouds. Ms. Dodd wasn't

there.

At least, not really.

* * *

**A/N- Hello there, fans of Zelda. This marks the beginning of an epic story that shall involve incognito demon lords, ballet-dancing swords, talking dogs, and some pretty annoying ghosts. Please stay tuned for updates as they shall come at varied intervals. **

**I own nothing but a lot of gluten-free ramen noodles.**

**- Rajeela **


	2. Chapter 1

"Bye everyone! Thanks for coming!" Mrs. Griffin tried to gently usher all the guests from the holiday party out the

front doors before the heat could escape. A flurry of down-coats and a chorus of farewells proved difficult to push out.

Not wishing to be caught in the chaos, Azalea waved from the couch that faced the front hall. It was her favorite spot.

From there, she could read from the light coming through the skylights above, it was a good vantage point and it was

directly under a heating vent and in front of the radiator.

Once the doors closed off the biting cold, Mrs. Griffin slumped against them.

"Some party, huh?" she breathed to Azalea.

Her daughter simply smiled. While reading the whole time, she hadn't really paid much attention to the holiday party.

"I'm going to wash the dishes. Feel free to help," Mrs. Griffin called to her daughter, walking to the kitchen.

Azalea settled back down into the mound of blankets with the last pages of her book. She only had a couple minutes

of silence, though.

"Zalea!" a high voice shouted.

The girl flinched, nearly losing her precious place in the book. Her little brother came bounding down the stairs,

jumped the last two characteristically, and leapt in front of her.

"Yes, Natey," she said calmly.

"Zalea, I heard an owl!" he cried.

He never pronounced the first "a" in her name, so it was as if her name began with a "z".

"Listen, listen, listen!" he persisted, putting a finger to his lips, which was shaking in excitement.

She patiently lent her ear, and tried to detect said bird calling. She heard nothing for a moment, but then there was a

whooping hoot, which was obviously a barred owl.

"Good ear, Natey!" she commended, and then pushed her reading glasses back up her nose as he bounced off to her

mother.

As her eyes scanned the last few sentences of the book, all else was blocked out of her senses. Eager for the last

word, her mind put up barriers to shield out distractions. Unfortunately, Natey was very good at working through

these barriers.

"Zalea! Mom says you have to take me out to look for the owl!" he yelled at the top of his little lungs.

Azalea groaned and rose from her cave of blankets and pillows, shedding them as she walked down the hall.

"Could you help me clean the kitchen when you come in?" her mother shouted from the sink, placing dishes in the

drying racks like it was a game of Jenga.

"Sure, Mom," she said back, trying to make out the last few words of her book in the dim lights in the hall.

Wrapping a coat around herself, she followed Natey out into the frozen dark.

Satisfied by the last sentence of the book, Azalea carefully closed the door behind her brother.

He trouped out through the snow on the driveway, canvassing the trees wildly for signs of the owl.

"Where is it? Where could it be?" the little boy asked over and over again.

A few minutes passed of anticipated excitement, but they faded and took the smile on Natey's face with them.

"Let's go in, Natey," Azalea said to her brother through chattering teeth. "But we haven't found the owl…" he said in

disappointment, wringing his little hands in the cold.

She opened the front door to let the boy in, and took one last glance outside.

The bare oak trees, directly across from the front of her house, were now illuminated with the orangey light which

came through the front door. Sitting on a crooked branch was the biggest owl Azalea had ever seen. She knew a lot

about a lot, but she had never seen nor heard of anything like this. It had tufts of feathers like horns, which stretched

above its round head. Darker feathers rimmed its eyes and face, and barred its brown body. Huge talons gripped the

tree, leathery and yellow, but somehow, they seemed more of an accessory than a threat. It simply looked at her,

and cocked its head ever so slightly, as if saying, "Make your next move."

Then it opened its hooked beak and began to hoot. It was an intriguing call, loud and raucous, but almost humanoid

in its pitch. All at once, the seemingly random series of sounds made sense.

"The Goddess is waiting for you, child. Do not disappoint her," it said in a cackling male voice, and locked eyes with

her, just to make sure it wasn't a dream.

Azalea understood every word the bird uttered, and slapped her own shoulder to see if she would wake up. The owl

spread its gigantic wings to their full span, an incredible silhouette in the night, and with one flap of them vanished.

"Azalea! Don't let the warm air out!" her mother shouted from the kitchen.

She numbly closed the door, and the light was gone from outside.

**A/N- To all you Zelda fans out there who are kindly reading this fanfiction, I will commend you for picking up on the references I am throwing into the story. Thank you in advance for reading, reviewing, etc. **

**I own nothing but a fluffy cat named Steve.**

**-Rajeela **


	3. Chapter 2

As she dried off her pruny hands with a towel, Azalea listened closely to her mother calling Ms. Dodd on speaker-

phone. The calling tone rang and rang, and finished with the mechanical female voice apologizing, for the number

couldn't be reached.

The Griffins checked on the old woman every night, because she lived alone in the tall house across the street. Mrs.

Griffin acquired a look of concern, one that she shared with her daughter.

"I'll go over and check on her," Azalea volunteered.

Visions of irrational catastrophes starring her pretty young daughter flickered through her mother's mind. Then she

glanced at Natey on the couch.

"Can you be extra careful?" Mrs. Griffin asked reluctantly. The girl smiled.

"Yes. I have to return a book anyway."

So she walked back out into the dark with a flashlight, her book, and a fluffy coat, and a kiss from her mother. The

moment she switched on her flashlight and lost sight of Mrs. Griffin, Azalea glanced around apprehensively. That owl

scared her badly, but the appearance of it made her worry for Ms. Dodd even more.

As she stalked down the driveway and across the wide road, she watched her breath float up to the streetlamps in

ashy puffs. Looking up at the gangly house that Ms. Dodd lived in, she noticed that only one light was on, coming

through curtains over one of the windows. She nearly tripped over the stairs and fell against the door.

After she knocked a few times, a feeling of panic struck her heart. Ms. Dodd was a welcoming old woman, who shared

Azalea's love of knowing and learning more. Plus, she made fantastic cookies. Azalea felt a very personal bond with

the woman, and was fiercely protective of her.

"Ms. Dodd?" she called, knocking again.

No answer came, so she desperately tried the doorknob. To her surprise, the door creaked open. Without thinking,

she stepped inside—and closed the door behind her.

As expected from the outside, it was dark in the hallways.

Azalea clicked on her flashlight, and flashed it down the hall. The overhead light switch was flicked in its "ON"

position. She flipped it down, but nothing happened. The fixtures wouldn't work. Undeterred because of her concern

for Ms. Dodd, Azalea started up the stairs.

The old woman's chair that slid up and down the wall of the staircase was stopped at the top. Other than the

electricity not appearing to be working, it seemed normal.

But then, without the A/C running, every hollow spot in the floorboards of the stairs echoed off the walls, and her

heartbeat seemed amplified. The silhouette of the vase of flowers on a table made an eerie shape.

At the end of the hall, the door was cracked open slightly, oddly letting out light. So Azalea took long strides down the

upstairs hall. Then the light down the hall suddenly went out, and her flashlight popped. It wouldn't turn on again. But

Azalea didn't panic. For some inexplicable reason, she had felt a premonition that she would want a pack of matches

in her boot today. On an impulse, she slid them in her shoe that morning. She felt for them and brought the box out,

flustered to find the spark.

The tiny flame hissed to life, and lit up her hand and the wall beside her. She inched down the hall, holding the match

cautiously.

Then she heard a laugh. It was hearty and mischievous, like some of the neighborhood boys that liked to pull pranks

on her. But as the laugh tailed off down the hall, it turned into more of a screech. Pinpricks of cold shot up Azalea's

spine as someone touched her shoulder.

"Hasn't your mother taught you not to play with fire?" a deep voice whispered in her ear, and her flame simmered

out.

All at once, Azalea was not there, and neither was Ms. Dodd, the mysterious voice, or that tall house.

There was nothing left in the lot but some frosted, dead grass and a rusty old mailbox.

**A/N- Hello again. I really must go to sleep soon. Thank you for reading, reviewing, et cetera. **

**I own nothing but a mysterious charger I really have no idea what to do with. **

**-Rajeela**


	4. Chapter 3

The cool breeze picked up a sharper edge as it glided over the Thames.

James Mage held his hat on his head as he felt this wind come flying past. He rolled up his sleeve and glanced at the

address written on his arm in purple ink. Then he looked all the way up the high building that appeared abandoned.

But the addresses matched. This was the place written in that letter.

With his photographic memory, he really had no reason to write it down but the feeling of importance when he looked

at it, scrawled on his arm. As he approached the foreclosed building, he reflected on the letter, written neatly on the

yellowed paper with red ink. It had only read the address and displayed that it was imperative James come to this

place. Something about it bothered James into following the advice.

He wasn't busy anyway, recently having lost his job in the recession. The man didn't expect the glass doors to open.

He didn't even realize they had opened until he was inside.

Alert now to the gray inner atmosphere, James began to climb the stairs, up to the top floor, as the letter asked.

Thoughtlessly, he found the door that said "CEO". And he walked inside, closed the door behind him, and sat on a

chair that had a desk in between it and another chair. It was oddly dank in here for such a brisk day outside. The

spider web-covered blinds let in prism-shaped pieces of light, which shone in James's eyes uncomfortably. Sighing

while recognizing this was all a hoax, he decided to think about his situation for a moment.

The chair in front of James Mage was empty before he put his head down to rub his temples. When he gazed up

again, it wasn't.

He checked the door, which was closed and surely hadn't opened according to his abnormal hearing.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Mage," the person in front of him said, sounding heavily Middle-Eastern. He looked plain and

normal, but something about him disturbed James. "So glad you could make it."

"Why am I here?" James asked.

"You may not know me," the stranger said, "but I certainly know you."

Something buried in James's conscience twanged.

"How do you know me?" This man laughed.

"Drop the act, Vaati." James jumped. "No human is near."

"Who are you?" James demanded, voice strained and scratchy all of a sudden.

The man laughed again and playfully stuck out his tongue, which was long and tapered and disturbingly flexible. Then

he began to melt away. His hair and skin and clothes slid off like a suit to reveal an entirely different creature

underneath. This revealed creature had olive-colored skin with diamond-shaped marks dotting him like freckles. His

hair was white and deliberately cut to seem like a razor over his left eye. His one visible eye glowed at James

malevolently.

"You're Ghirahim," he realized, clutching the arms of his chair.

Then he noticed the rounded human fingers he had worked so hard to craft were becoming long and pointed. His

healthy skin paled. He touched the violet hair that wound down his shoulders.

His sub-conscious was tired of pretending to be a normal British citizen. Still, he grunted, seeing that he had been

exposed so easily. He couldn't go back to his human life now.

"What do you want?" he asked again.

"We have never met before, but I am… entreating your help."

Vaati looked up with blazing red eyes.

"For your information, Mr. Ghirahim, I have not practiced magic in a few millennia. I don't see how I could help you."

"I prefer _Lord_ Ghirahim," he replied tersely. "And you are the only one I could find that shares my goal."

"Your goal?" Vaati repeated, feeling extremely uncomfortable in his ancient form.

"Why, Vaati! Have you forgotten after all these years?" Ghirahim exclaimed, showing some mock concern. "To collect

the Triforce, of course."

Vaati blinked.

"But it's been so long. Besides, Ganon and Zelda and that blasted hero are all back in Hyrule."

At the thought of that green hero who wielded the Master Sword, despite his practiced calm, Vaati grimaced.

Ghirahim laughed again.

"I sense that hatred for little Link still smoldering inside you."

Disregarding his plain personality entirely now, Vaati's eyes glinted, and the shaded windows flew open.

"Yes, I still despise him. Who wouldn't? But I still don't see how I can help you."

Sitting on the edge of the desk, Ghirahim looked serious, which clashed with the gaudy red cape he wore that

fluttered in the wind.

"The Princess has gone off the grid."

Vaati leaned forward, completely forgetting his own unanswered question.

"She's still alive?"

"Yes, or at least she was until sometime last night."

Something felt wrong here.

"Ganon has retuned," the Demon Lord spat, confirming Vaati's worst fear. "History repeats itself, Vaati," Ghirahim

said in exasperation, crossing his legs. "The Princess is kidnapped by the Darkness; the Hero valiantly runs off the

save her. But this time, I am free from Demise and from Hylia. You have wormed out of your prison, in at least one

dimension. We can work together to gather the Triforce."

The wind mage considered this. He hadn't seen anything of beautiful Zelda in a very long time. In fact, he hadn't had

anything to do with his old life on the planet Hylia in millennia. But he didn't care much about the Triforce. At the

same time, how could he create another persona for himself?

Being immortal, people would have been suspicious if his character lived forever. He "died" many, many times over

the years, creating a new person every time afterwards, which became increasingly difficult as he began to forget his

art of magic. Once, he pretended to be a woman, which he decided not to do again. At the thought of that horrendous

experience, he felt more apt to getting in on the Demon's plan.

"I do not desire the Triforce anymore," Vaati said finally, as if it was a prompt for Ghirahim to build on.

"I thought as much," he replied, smiling a bit. "Once we obtain the Triforce," he said to Vaati slowly, for effect, "I will

rule Hylia as Emperor, and you will have Zelda."

Vaati's fingers curled. This was a fair deal, at least to him.

"Where do we start?" he consented.

A malicious grin spread across Ghirahim's face.

"Good. We start by stopping the Hero in his tracks. Once we have Courage, Wisdom will be easy to obtain and Power

will follow soon after. So, Vaati, we begin by finding the Hero of Time: and destroying him."

Laughs could be heard echoing down the Thames, two maniacal sounds that crashed with each other and chilled the

souls of all passers-by, for they had never heard laughter so evil and alien.

Little did any of them know that this marked the catalyst of a great, dangerous war.

Because it wasn't to take place in their world.

* * *

**A/N- Finally, the story really gets started. In case you, readers, are feeling as if something (or someone) is missing, you are correct. Pieces of this story shall be introduced continuously, and a big one is coming soon. **

**I own nothing but some broken ear buds. (How does one dispose of those properly?)\**

**-Rajeela**


	5. Chapter 4

Azalea woke as if startled by a loud noise.

It was not a comfortable awakening, despite being tucked in a velvety canopy beg. She sat up slowly and stiffly, and

swung her legs over the side.

Staring down at the cloud-light nightgown she wore, Azalea nearly fell to her doom. But she didn't. The broad bed

seemed to sit on the air, with no visible ground. Azalea fell forward and stumbled from the shock of walking on air,

but her feet stayed flat. She could look straight through the "floor," and watched thick clouds of fog swirling down,

which stretched into an endless abyss.

It was a featureless plateau above the infinite grayness, with a blank sky and nothing but the bed she had been lying

on. Her mind drawing a blank for one of the first times in her life, Azalea cautiously walked back over to the bed and

sat on its edge.

"How was your rest, Princess?" the voice she had heard in Ms. Dodd's home enquired.

Azalea scrambled back on the bed as a face materialized at its foot. Then, a humanoid body followed. Breathing hard

from one shock after another, Azalea looked him over. His figure was the same a young human's would be. He was

oddly formidable, and he was also quite lean and tall. His skin could take no particular hue, as it darkened and paled

continuously. His ears were pointed and strung with multiple rings.

Defying any law of physics that Azalea had taken pride in knowing, his long, pulled-back hair floated. Heavily

ambivalent, Azalea hated him immediately and was also struck by his ethereal handsomeness. And she blushed,

despite herself, recognizing that she was in a light nightgown. So she pulled her knees to her chest as a defensive act

and somewhat out of shyness. The creature's amber eyes glittered.

"You needn't be afraid of me, young Princess," he coaxed.

"Who are you?" Azalea interrupted. "And, I am not a princess."

He laughed, drifting up above the foot of the bed: "That is correct. You are not just _a _princess; you are _the _Princess."

Azalea narrowed her eyes.

"Who are you?" she demanded again, more firmly.

Then he disappeared.

His voice echoed, "I am Fagan." And he reappeared on the bed next to Azalea. "Master of Steam."

She nearly fell off the bed. He clicked his tongue.

"Personal space issues? I'm told it runs in your family."

"Would you quit speaking in riddles?" Azalea muttered, rubbing her temples where she so frequently got headaches.

Fagan frowned.

"Well, if you're going to be rude, I'll just leave."

"H-hold on!" she cried, putting up a halting hand.

The Entity raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue.

"Why did you call me a princess?" she asked for the third time.

Sighing, Fagan settled back on the bed.

"That is a long story."

Azalea shrugged.

"I've got time."

Fagan smiled.

"You are cleverer than I expected."

He then motioned for her to sit beside him on the bed. Sitting warily at the very farthest corner of the bed, she

readily listened as he began to tell the story.

* * *

**s**

**A/N- See, this is what happens when you're uploading chapters at midnight: you mislabel one and all the rest get out of order.**

**Fagan and Azalea are mine, so they're not Nintendo's at all.**

**I own nothing but an empty bottle of white-out. **

**- Rajeela **


	6. Chapter 5

Leo was rather lonely.

Without his parents, he was frequently alone, but today he felt it especially. Hands shoved in his pockets, he trudged

down the sidewalk as if through snow. He kept an eye trained on the alleys he passed, all too suspicious of the

darkness to be caught off his guard.

As he skulked along, he passed a tree whose branches reached like tentacles into the sky, which cast cragged

shadows across the sidewalk. If he looked hard enough, he could make out a face in the gnarled bark. This was one of

the only trees in the city, and it appeared untouched by the pollution and development around it.

Under this grave tree sat a dog. He was regal-looking, or at least as regal as a dog with only skin and bones and a

thin frizz of red fur could look. Leo had seen him around the neighborhood a few times, and he was never with an

owner. He sat up proudly, and looked over Leo judiciously.

"You alone?" Leo asked, though he didn't feel self-conscious.

The dog made a sort of gurgling sound, which told Leo, "Yes."

The human smiled a little.

"Then we're in the same place. Come along if you want."

Then he continued on his way. The dog rose from his place, and seemed to halt once he was on the sidewalk, staring

back at his shade. But Leo didn't stop, so the dog padded up behind him.

Even the way this dog walked was respectable and proper. Leo found entertainment in this, mimicking the animal's

walk: he lifted a foot daintily and set it down precisely, but in fluid, swift movements. There was also the matter of

keeping his head looking straight ahead, not bobbing with the shifting of his legs. He got an abundance of strange

looks from people passing by, but he paid them no mind.

They wound up and down all the streets, taking the longest route possible to Leo's house where he lived with his little

sister Ariel. By the time they reached the rectangle of wooden plank that sat in the crook of an oak tree, the

makeshift tree house across the street from their real house, Leo had the walk mastered. Ariel was on her stomach,

watching them over the edge of the platform, with a bemused look on her face.

"You got a dog?" she called hopefully.

"More like the dog got me," replied Leo, ruffling the dog's red fur. "I think I'll call him 'King'."

The animal made another characteristic gurgling/approving sound.

"Good," finished Leo, putting his hands on his knees. "How are we going to get you onto the tree?"

King looked up at his new friends as if saying, "Watch this." And with a single leap, he was on the same platform

where Ariel was still kneeling.

The girl jumped, and held her telescope close, which was her most prized possession from their old house. After a

moment of shock, Leo laughed out loud, which he hadn't done in years.

"Well, we've got a king and a superhero!"

The dog walked over to the very corner of the platform and lied down. Ariel examined the dog wondrously as Leo

made his way up, making footholds of knots in the bark. Once he was with Ariel, they both sat in suspicion of this

stray. Leo pulled out two granola bars from his jacket pocket, one of which he handed to Ariel.

As Ariel gnawed on a chunk of almond, she asked, "Are we going to keep him, Leo?"

Leo stopped mid-chew and stared blankly at his old sneakers. Would his foster family want to keep a mangy,

untrained, possibly diseased animal? How could he explain the logic behind even asking such a question?

Leo knew his sister had always wanted a dog. Her cornflower-blue eyes twinkled with the prospect of keeping him.

"Leo?" a serene voice called to him from the frosted ground below. He and Ariel peered over the side of their perch.

The only daughter of their foster family, Julia, stood below, hands stuffed in the pockets of her down coat. Her green

earmuffs seemed unnecessary, paired with her thick short hair.

"Hey, Julia!" Leo said nervously, willing King to stay out of sight.

"It's kind of late for you two to be outside, don't you think?" she asked motherly, examining their far too lightweight

jackets.

"I guess you're right," Leo laughed, tapping his fingers on the wood. Julia cocked a suspicious eyebrow.

"All right, what are you two hiding?" she asked, folding her arms.

Before Leo had any time to protest, he noticed the red-furred dog that trotted up to Julia unabashedly. She looked

down at him in as much surprise as Leo and Ariel did. King sniffed Julia's hand and submissively sat at her feet.

"Oh, how sweet!" Julia cried, crouching beside him. "Is this what you were hiding?"

"His name is King," Ariel supplied, already venturing down the tree to introduce them.

The three humans clustered around the dog chatted nonchalantly in a way they would soon long for; innocently.

The hopeful talk stopped short as the fluorescent street lights went out. And not just the one across the street; but all

of them, all the way down the avenue. Car tires shrieked in the distance, and sirens shrilly rang soon after. Once

Leo's eyes had finally begun to adjust, a blinding orangey light flashed on right in front of them. Ariel scurried behind

the guard of Leo and Julia reached for his arm.

There was King, inexplicably floating midair right before their eyes. His large paws didn't even scrape the ground. His

fur floated in the wind. The clumps of falling snow were dyed tangerine in the light that emanated from King.

"S-stop floating!" Leo finally got out. King tilted his red head. "Stop it r-right now!"

"Leo," Julia whispered, "I think he's real. I see him too."

He was beginning to panic. As a young boy, he had hallucinations that had made him horribly afraid of the dark and

being alone. With counsel, he had gotten much better. In fact, he had forgotten of those tough times until now, and

they struck his heart with a newfound fear. His counselor had told him to stand up to these illusions and make them

go away himself. Then, they had just stopped. Now his previous methods weren't working. The hovering dog wasn't

vanishing.

"I am no illusion, boy," a low, clear voice told him.

Leo looked around wildly. Ariel held very tightly to his arm.

"Do not be afraid of me," it said again, and the young man stared at the dog. "Yes, I am in the form of a stray dog. It

was my only way to survive under this brutal atmosphere."

Even so, the dog's mouth didn't move.

"Who are you?" Leo demanded, beginning to take control of his emotions.

The voice continued, "It is not important who I am, boy, but who _you_ are."

Julia and Ariel looked between him and the dog.

"And who am I, exactly?"

"You are the Chosen One, of course," the voice said, as if it was obvious.

Leo cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah. And I'm sure you really are a king," he replied ironically.

The voice gave a deep hearty laugh. "Ah, but I am a king."

Leo blinked.

"If you would lend an ear, I would be happy to explain," the dog offered.

He nodded, glancing at the girls. Both were speechless. The light that came from King produced warmth, so Leo was

glad to prolong its existence. And, he could admit to being curious too. As the voice cleared its throat, all at once Leo

had a foreboding feeling that this was going to take a while. And he was right.

* * *

**A/N- Thank you, readers, for your patience, your insight, and reading and reviewing and such. **

**I own nothing but a bike with a lopsided wheel. **

**-Rajeela**


	7. Chapter 6

Azalea stared at Fagan.

"So I'm supposed to be The Princess," she reiterated, after hearing the story told in at least three different ways.

"Yes," he responded, mostly patiently.

"And you're from another planet."

"Right again, from Hylia."

She paused and stared at her fingernails.

"And why again am I here if I'm not the original Princess?"

Fagan sighed. "When your ancestor died, she passed on the third of the Triforce to her daughter, who passed it on to

hers, and eventually, it came to you."

"But my mother's not dead," she said carefully, making it clear she didn't want that to happen.

"Your mother isn't the descendant of Zelda," the Entity told her.

Azalea hadn't thought of her dad in… well, ever. He had been gone as long as she could remember anything, and her

mother wouldn't talk about it.

"Your father was a descendant of Zelda. Once he was gone, he gave the piece of the Triforce to you." She tensed in

surprise.

"I don't have any of the Triforce," she said. As far as she knew, she wasn't lying.

The next thing came to her in a guilty, selfish rush, as she couldn't believe she had forgotten it: "Where is Ms. Dodd?"

Smirking at her, he let on, "Somewhere safe; for now. She isn't doing anything with her own will; let's just leave it at

that."

As the girl relieved her mind of that worry, she was quiet for a while. The spirit lazily floated in the air.

"Where is my father?" she asked him suddenly.

Fagan scowled. "Gone," he replied with a tone that could saw wood.

She persisted, "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Frustration boiled up inside Azalea. "Listen, fog-brain," she snapped, "I'm don't want to be kept outside this little

world of secrets. I want to know what happened to my father."

He was taken aback at her words, so to hide his shock, he smiled.

"Fine. He gave his life to the Goddess so he didn't have to deal with the Triforce anymore. He was weak. A coward. He

couldn't deal with all the Wisdom you now possess. Happy now?"

Fagan dissipated instantly, leaving nothing but a spark in the air from his eyes. Left alone on the bed, Azalea

regretted speaking so sharply. She knew more than anyone that Wisdom was a dangerous thing. Having too much

could drive her insane. She had to fight for her mind every day. And now she knew her father before her couldn't.

So she sat down on the floor, mumbling to herself, "Ignorance is bliss."

* * *

**A/N- What would YOU do if you were stuck in an infinite prison with no provisions but your sharp wit? Seems that Azalea is caught in a unique position.**

**Fagan and Azalea are OC's of mine, so are therefore not part of Nintendo's canon at all. **

**I own nothing but a small box of Mardi Gras necklaces.**

**-Rajeela**


	8. Chapter 7

"To begin, you will be glad to know that your race of humans is not alone, as you say. There is another planet in a

galaxy far away, as all other galaxies are. It is called Hylia, named after the divine goddess who presides over it.

Citizens of this planet know about Earth. They know about you. Their power is so advanced that they have even been

here."

Leo skeptically observed King speaking, as he wasn't moving his mouth.

"Your 'hallucinations' as a young child were not fake. Those monsters are all real."

Mostly, this didn't register in him. But a small part of him screamed.

"Luckily for you, they cannot stay. The levels of air and resources are much different than Hylia. Only the most

powerful and discreet can stay. 'Dreams' and 'hallucinations' are really portals these monsters have opened from

Earth to Hylia, as it would take a long time to fly here. What you see in nightmares is real, but cannot harm you here.

Only on Hylia. Your kind makes books and movies and all kinds of stories about these things they have seen, but all

the time, they believe they are not real. Malignant creatures will wreak havoc on the minds of humans, but a bind

from the Goddess keeps them from touching a thing on Earth. Now you, Leo, have a special sense of these monsters.

Your destiny has been calling you all your life, but your…family took it as an illness of your mind and worked to make

the callings go away."

King was indiscreetly uncomfortable speaking of Leo's family, and oddly, of saying his name.

"But destiny, by definition, cannot be avoided, and now is your time to accept it."

Leo groaned softly, "Why me?"

His sister patted his shoulder. Julia remained oddly neutral by his side.

Not taking the hint that it was a rhetorical question, King said loudly, "You, Leo, have been chosen by the Goddess to

be the next Hero. If you'll pardon me, I have given this speech more than a few times, and most—no, all—of the

recipients were named 'Link.'"

Leo closed his eyes, feeling the sharp pains of a headache coming on.

"Why does this sound so familiar?" he asked Ariel, and could tell she recognized it too.

Evidently, King had good hearing, so he replied, "I think you will find that this is very similar to the video game, _The _

_Legend of Zelda."_

Leo's eyes opened as quickly as a jack-in-the-box. He gave his sister a look, and then burst out laughing. Julia's

eyebrows surmounted her forehead. All tension left his body.

"Now I know I'm dreaming." To his sister, "Give my arm a good pinch, Ariel."

King abruptly bellowed, "This is not a dream, boy!" His smile faded. "You remember these so called games, hmm? You

remember how Link, the Hero of Time, Vanquisher of Darkness, Wielder of the Master Sword, time and time again

conquered the evil and saved the Princess, Zelda?"

King stared at Leo expectantly.

"Yes," he prompted.

"And I am sure you also remember Ganon, or Ganondorf Dragmire, as he was known as a physical being."

"He was annoying," Leo laughed fondly, remembering the times that he could sit and play that game with his sister

watching.

His parents would pass by and chuckle at the fantasy, and come to sit on the couch next to them. Ariel appeared

about to cry. It had been a long time since they hand played games like that together.

"Annoying?" King exclaimed. "I assure you, boy that Ganon is not just a pixelated nuisance that you can lose to as

many times as you need before you defeat him. He is the equivalent of a god. And in the real world, you only get one

chance. One 'life.' And no resources like you would have in that game, I am sure."

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Leo put together, "So you're saying that Ganon exists? That there really is a Princess

Zelda who needs saving, a Triforce, and a Master Sword?"

King nodded, which was awkward, as he was still a dog.

"What are Entities?"

"They are guardians of certain elements. Such as, in history, Nabooru of Spirit, Saria of Forest, Ruto of Sea."

"Oh, you mean like the Sages?" Ariel piped up.

"Yes, it includes these Sages. But it also includes other powerful beings, like Demon Lord Ghirahim, and Wind Mage

Vaati, and several other spirits. Ah, I believe there are some comrades of Heroes of the past who are Entities, such as

Princess Midna, the sword-spirit Fi, and even yours truly."

"Who exactly are you again?" Leo asked, feeling as if his name was trying to burst out of his brain.

"I was known as the King of Red Lions in one of my forms, but first, a king of Hyrule, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule. As a

boat, I guided one of many Heroes across the Great Sea. To give you an idea of how much Ganon has already done in

his new form, this Great Sea is now referred to as the Great Doom. It is now a barren desert."

Leo simply wasn't processing the gravity of this. He nodded. It seemed that Ariel was, though, as she gasped and

whimpered at intervals.

"But didn't you die?" Leo asked, remembering the events at the end of King's game.

"Hylia bestowed the eternal life of an Entity on me, so yes, I did die, but now I am forever alive."

"So you're an Entity?" the boy clarified.

"Yes. I am now a messenger of the higher Entities, given only these imperative assignments. Actually, I have been

retired for some time now, but I was the only one still left…able to deliver any message at all."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Leo, who had suddenly gotten a sense of what this meant.

"I mean that all of my former friends and neighbors and partners have all been destroyed, their unsuspecting souls

snuffed out by Ganon's new power."

He spoke with an intensity, which rang in Leo's ears after he had spoken.

"What do you want me to do?" the young man asked softly.

King exhaled through his nose, attempting to calm himself again.

"You, Leo, have been chosen. Her Grace, Hylia, has granted to you this power, this piece of the Triforce. You possess

more Courage than anyone else who lives. You are now the Hero."

The last word had the effect of a gong that would have been struck next to Leo's ear. Flashes of color and sound

passed through his conscious. Like strobe-lights, the moment he could take them in, they were gone. He could make

out much green. There were also faces; most seemed like random people in a crowd, but a certain series of these faces bore similarities. They all were young men, a couple who were quite small. Features on these faces differed

greatly, but in each of them shone a light of stubborn righteousness, and they all blurred together.

Leo was suddenly aware of something that felt like a silver weight on the back of his hand. He glanced down at it.

There was nothing there. With some effort, he lifted up his hand and held it up, still to find nothing.

"Do you feel it now, boy?" King asked, with a small chuckle. "The weight of the world is in your hand. But it is not

your world. All the Heroes of the past have been Hylians. All the Hylians are gone now, so Her Grace has besought the

help of humans. Of course, without their consent. See it as a favor."

_Is my life that unimportant? _Leo thought, cradling his heavy hand. _I'm just a piece of the plan. If I fail, she could just _

_find another Hero. _

"If everyone is gone," he said to King smartly, "then why does there need to be a Hero? If there is no hope and

there's nothing to save, there's no need for me."

"Where do I start with this?" King soliloquized, averting his gaze for the first time. "The Hero, one incident, didn't

entirely succeed."

Leo swallowed, imagining if that could be what would happen to him.

"He could only hold Ganon back temporarily. The Princess, Zelda, was transported to Earth at the last moment. Link

was defeated. Ganon overtook Hyrule, while Zelda began to make a life for herself on Earth. She had a guardian,

surely, and blended in as a normal human. Wisdom is different from Courage. It is passed on directly, from mother to

daughter to son to father to daughter. Courage cannot be inherited; only earned. So you see, in this way, Wisdom is

still on Earth. In fact, Wisdom was just on the other side of this city, in the suburbs."

Leo laughed, thinking it was a joke.

"I do not jest in such times of seriousness," King said coldly, so he stopped. "Her name was Azalea Leone, and she

carried Wisdom unknowingly. She was a direct descendant of the Princess Zelda that came to Earth centuries ago."

"Why are you speaking in past-tense?" Leo inquired, feeling nervousness creeping up his throat.

"She has oddly disappeared from the sight of Her Grace Hylia, and all Her servants on Earth. Azalea has simply

vanished."

Leo smiled secretly at the cliché and guessed, "This isn't a coincidence, is it?"

"When it comes to this," King answered, sounding tired, "there are no coincidences."

* * *

**A/N- I think we should all take the time to thank those wonderful people who made and maintain , giving people like me the opportunity to make stories with their favorite characters and settings. Thank you all!**

**Leo and Ariel and Julia are all my OC's, not part of Nintendo, and neither are some ideas in this story. **

**I own nothing but a letter L. (La la la la lemon... Anybody know that song?)**

**- Rajeela**


	9. Chapter 8

Leo awoke with a gasp.

He had apparently kicked off his overly-thick blankets, and his cold sweat told him that he had experienced a

nightmare. The white room seemed to pulse with awful light, as if the sun was scattered in the corners.

The first thing that he remembered was the day: Christmas. Ariel always had some sort of preset alarm clock in her

mind which rang on Christmas to wake her up. This is why Leo was surprised that it was nearly 10:00 already.

His head snapped to face her bed on the opposite wall. Her blankets lay there in a heap, but not her.

The strange light grew in intensity and Leo sprang up and thrashed through her blankets. She was not there.

"Finally up, Leo?" Julia grinned in the doorway. "You've got something under the tree. You and Ariel stayed up so late

last night that we didn't want to wake you up early." She spoke as if the meeting with King was a dream.

"Where's Ariel?"

Leo couldn't speak. He numbly slouched on Ariel's bed, knowing that something was wrong. Now he saw that the

horrid light was like a trail: it led neatly out the window. He scrambled to the window and noticed a corner of the

curtain ripped, as if a claw had taken to it.

Julia sniffed and sneezed a few times in a row. "Wow, it's as if there's a cat in here!" She was allergic to cats.

Leo flung the window open and gazed out onto the twinkling white tableau.

"Leo! What's wrong?"

"Ariel. She's gone."

"What!"

"She was stolen."

"By…?!"

"A cat."

Julia touched his arm, eyes filled with consternation.

King was at the base of the bush, nuzzling the leaves.

"King!" Leo yelled. "Can you smell it?"

"She's been taken by a _cat _Entity," the dog spat, and Julia's eyes widened again.

"So it _did _happen," she whispered.

"Where were you when she was being kidnapped?" Leo demanded.

"I was tracking Azalea's scent across town. By the time I caught wind of the _cat, _they were already gone."

"What are we going to do?" Leo and Julia hissed at once, looking at each other.

"This is good," King sighed, sitting up and stretching.

"Good?" Leo cried. "Good! So that's the Hylian word for kidnappings!"

If King had been in a humanoid form, the young man would have attacked him, but the dog seemed too defenseless.

"Do you not see, boy? This is the initiation of your holy quest!"

"What do you mean?" Leo asked, more quietly now.

"Your sister has been taken by Ganon, obviously."

"Ganon?" Leo whispered, too shocked to scream.

"Well, not directly," King admitted. "The _cat_ is obviously one of his minions. You can tell by the Holy Odor."

"Holy Odor?" Leo repeated, scrunching his nose at the mere mention of it.

"Yes, the mark of an Entity when they may accidentally brush something human."

Leo thought of the odd feeling in his hand and then glanced at the yellowish haze going through the house. "Is she

safe?" Leo requested, not really wanting to hear bad news.

"She is safe. Don't you realize she is bait for you to be drawn into Ganon's trap?" King told him.

"What do I do, then?"

"You go rescue her, of course! And, I believe Zelda—er, Azalea—is in the same place she is."

"But isn't that just falling into his trap?"

"Well, no, because you're going in prepared!"

"Sorry, did you just say, 'prepared'?" Leo asked angrily, spreading out his empty hands for King to see. "I don't have

a single weapon or anything to protect myself with. What am I supposed to do?"

"There are some who can help you," said King softly, letting a moment pass before he continued, "There are three

Entities left alive on Earth. Two have been reincarnated throughout the years. They are the guardians of you and

Princess Azalea. The third the spirit of the Goddess Sword and now the keeper of the Master Sword, Fi. They have all

taken on new names and personas, I assure you, but remain in their holy roles."

"Only three?" reinstated Leo.

"Yes."

For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt like that was wrong.

"But you said that there was another Entity that came through and kidnapped Ariel."

He became suddenly nauseous.

"You are correct. But that Entity can't be on Earth anymore."

"Then we have to find Fi," Leo realized.

"First we must find your guardian. You will not get far without your guardian."

"Who's that?" he queried, wracking his mind for possible answers.

"He is the reincarnation of the fairy, Navi."

As he recollected memories of, "Listen, Link!" and an obnoxious flashing dot of light, he moaned inwardly.

"Where can we find him?"

King chuckled.

"Fate works in odd ways… This boy is the brother of the Princess: Nathaniel Leone."

* * *

**A/N- Yooouuu guessed it! Not much of a twist, but I still like entwining the storylines. Next time, a new character. **

**Julia, Ariel, Leo, Azalea, and Natey are all mine, not part of Nintendo's canon at all.**

**I own nothing but some glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos.**

**-Rajeela**


	10. Chapter 9

From the time she was a young girl, Azalea could never stand the sound of crying.

So it jerked her awake. Her hands went to her ears out of habit, but once she recalled where she was, she removed

them.

Still bleary-eyed from another night of sleeping like a jumping bean, Azalea couldn't see much at first. After a few

wipes at her eyes, she rested her arms on the edge of the bed that she still wouldn't sleep on and squinted out to the

bleak horizon. The sobs echoed all around her, making it difficult to pinpoint the source.

Eventually, Azalea noticed another bed. It was just as big as hers, with blue accents instead of her pinkish ones. She

could make out a smallish lump under the lavish covers. She achingly stood and stumbled drowsily towards the other

bed.

Once she was within twenty feet, she could hear a "tsk, tsk" sound. It was Fagan, to her utter joy.

"Not so fast, Princess."

She abruptly slammed into an invisible wall. A pulse of red light came from the impact.

Rubbing her nose, Azalea called out, "Who else have you captured?"

"Just a little girl," the spirit's voice replied innocently.

"Don't take the credit." It seemed for a moment that someone else had spoken, but it was so quiet Azalea

disregarded it.

"She's crying!" Azalea told him, gazing through the translucent barrier at the shaking mound.

"So? Crying is a natural response, you know," Fagan told her, as if he were an expert on humans.

"Let me comfort her," Azalea said confidently.

Sounding interested, he challenged, "Why should I let you?"

Pursing her lips, she said coyly, "Do you really want to listen to her crying for however long you're planning on

keeping us?"

There was a long moment when all that could be heard was the girl's resonating cries. Without a word, Fagan misted

into form and glanced at Azalea as if saying, "Well played."

His fingers swept over the invisible barricade, and another pulse of energy ran through it, but coming in instead of

rippling out. Then, the spirit disappeared, and left Azalea to go to this girl.

She stepped slowly, avoiding making any loud noises. Settling onto the end of the bed, she hesitantly rubbed the

mass of human under the sheets. It shivered.

"Don't touch me," the girl said, quietly but fiercely.

Azalea obligingly took her hand away.

"I won't hurt you," she told her.

The person underneath the sheets moved around, and a pair of puffy blue eyes came up to examine Azalea.

Narrowing these eyes, the girl demanded, "You aren't friends with that cat, are you? Where is my brother?"

"Your brother? _Cat?_"

"Yes, my brother. He's tall and blond and has grey eyes. If you met him, he would probably hurt you to save me, so I

guess he hasn't met you." She mentioned nothing more about the cat.

This girl sounded slightly out of sync, perhaps traumatized, so Azalea just smiled.

"I'm not crazy," she hiccupped.

The older girl sniffed. "I'm sure if anyone here is crazy," she said, "it's me."

The little girl sat up a little. Azalea saw how pretty she was, even while sobbing. It only raised her suspicion of

Fagan's motives.

Azalea then told her quietly, "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to be friends."

There was a pause.

"Okay," said the girl.

"I'm Azalea," she said, grinning.

"I'm… Ariel," said the little girl, pushing off the covers.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Ariel," said Azalea. And she added, "I promise you, we'll find a way out of here. No matter

what."

Fagan's voice drifted past her ears, oddly mingling with another tone: "Good luck with that."

* * *

**A/N- Phew, now Azalea has a friend. Yes, I am mixing up the different references and storylines of games on purpose. While it's fun, it gets kind of confusing, so please bear with me. **

**Fagan, Ariel, and Azalea are mine, and the events of this chapter in particular are not even similar to Nintendo's canon.**

**I own nothing but frozen bananas. They're good in smoothies. **

**-Rajeela**


	11. Chapter 10

"How do I explain this to Mrs. Griffin, exactly?" said Leo through clenched teeth. King merrily pranced beside him

through the snow. Julia had agreed to wait before calling the police until Leo had talked to Mrs. Griffin.

King glanced up from his position trotting along.

"Just tell her the time has come. She'll understand."

That didn't help Leo's understanding at all. The white house with the blue roof was just as King had described it:

elegantly, old and plenty large. He was almost afraid to go up and rap his knuckles on the big doors. But knocking on

a door was going to be the easiest part of this.

Soon enough, bare feet came running up and a lock on the inside clicked. The door opened, spilling out golden light.

Leo dropped his eyes to a young boy with huge eyes.

"Mommy!" he called, "Do you know any hobos?"

Conscious of his bedraggled appearance, Leo smoothed down his hair with a shaky hand. "I'm not a hobo."

A woman with brown hair came out of a door to the left, saying, "Natey honey, how many times have I told you to let

me answer the—," and she saw Leo. "Are you lost, young man?" she asked, pushing the boy behind her.

"It's time," he said simply, though he really had no idea what it meant.

Her eyes widened.

"Sophia," King said softly, stepping out of the shadows.

"Daphnes?" she asked incredulously.

Then she looked back at Leo.

"So it really is time."

Her eyes sparkled with tears as she looked down at her little boy, Natey.

"What's wrong?" he queried.

She crouched down in front of him.

"There's something important I have to tell you about your sister," she explained carefully. Before she did, though,

she stood and said to Leo, "Why don't you come in and clean up? How about some tea or hot chocolate?

Uncertainly, Leo did go in, followed closely by King. And the first thing he did was accept that hot chocolate.

* * *

**A/N- Just a short one this time. I thought about combining this with Ch9, but I personally like short chapters.**

**Leo and Sophia and Natey and Azalea are mine, and these events aren't part of Nintendo.**

**I own nothing else but a travel-size Purell bottle. **

**- Rajeela**


	12. Chapter 11

Vaati couldn't believe he was standing in line for security.

He had attempted flying by plane, once, instead of flying himself, but the ride was so horrifyingly turbulent that he

was forced to use magic to even out the wind if he was going to keep his lunch down. However, that had been 70-

some years ago, so hopefully the steadiness had improved.

Besides, he didn't have much other choice. Ghirahim was adamant about not using magic, as not to attract attention,

and Vaati wasn't well-enough practiced anyway.

Ghirahim, who apparently was well-practiced in magic, posed as a businessman from the UAE. He had made up Vaati

to appear normal. Brown contacts and a good blond wig over his tied-up hair was all he really needed to go through.

As for his clawed fingers, all he could hope for was to not be questioned about them.

"Have you ever flown before?" asked Vaati to Ghirahim.

"Of course," he answered. "I don't just _look _like a businessman."

The sorcerer nodded, deciding not to embarrass himself further. He emptied his pockets into the plastic bin, though

he didn't have anything with him. His comrade got through the metal detector easily. By the time Vaati had taken off

his shoes, Ghirahim was putting his back on.

He waited for his turn and anxiously walked through the metal-detecting machine. When it went off shrilly, he was

horrified. The bored-looking woman behind a desk to the left acquired a forced smile and waved him over.

"Empty your pockets, sir," she requested.

He showed her he didn't have anything, and couldn't seem to find what it was. Then he rolled up his sleeves and

recalled the bracelet he always wore. It was his only tie to Hylia: an ancient brace made from a silver-like ore. He

had worn it for so long it left a deep imprint on his forearm.

After prying it off, he tried to hide his tenseness. How advanced was their technology? Would they be able to tell it

was a foreign material? If they could, would they be suspicious?

Ghirahim checked his wristwatch and sighed audibly. He strode over to the woman behind the table and smiled at her

friendlily.

"Are you with this man, sir?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Could you just let us go? Our plane is going to leave soon."

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry sir, I have to check out this bracelet before you can go. Airport policy."

Ghirahim cleared his throat and reached out. She moved back, but not quickly enough. The room stopped moving,

literally.

The "businessman" took the bracelet easily, gave it to Vaati, and they continued briskly. A moment later, the room

resumed, and the woman looked around, blinking. She obviously had no memory of it.

"You can't do that," hissed Ghirahim.

Vaati met his eyes like a beat dog. He simply hadn't had as much social experience as his partner.

"We must sever all strings to Hylia. Every aspect of that planet will arouse suspicion on this one."

That was what Vaati expected. Still, he gazed at his beloved bracelet ruefully, knowing he would have to dispose of it

on the way. A garbled announcement came over the intercom. Ghirahim swore.

"We may just make it, if we run."

And he did go off running, with Vaati hobbling behind him, who was still attempting to put on his shoes.

* * *

**A/N- Gosh, Vaati, you have to get with it! Poor guy's too old-fashioned. **

**I own nothing but a copy of ****_Hamlet _****I found in the corner of my office. I don't remember buying it. **

**- Rajeela**


	13. Chapter 12

Leo burned his tongue repeatedly on the hot chocolate, but he ignored it.

Mrs. Griffin sat with her son and King on the couch below the banister. He rested in the easy chair across from him.

"You know why he is here," said King to the woman.

She nodded somberly.

"Of course. I've always known this day would come. But I didn't really suspect it to arrive so soon."

"Many of her line have received their fate earlier than your Azalea," the dog reminded her. "And most of them were

motherless. Count you and your daughter lucky."

"I'm afraid I can't call Azalea lucky," she responded, smiling sadly. "But, I know it can't be helped. I can only assist

her and the…Chosen One."

It sounded very clichéd, and she knew it.

"And your name is…?"

"Leo," he told her lowly.

"It's an honor to meet you, Leo," she said, bobbing her head, as if he was of importance.

He glanced at King, who bowed slightly as well.

"Thank you for the hot chocolate," he said awkwardly.

"It's the least I can do," she assured him. "Now, what were you saying, King?"

The dog averted his eyes.

"I'll get right to the point: Azalea has been abducted by the Power."

She nodded once.

"So we need to act immediately. What move can we make?"

"Now, Sophia, _you _aren't allowed to intervene."

She blinked.

"Not at all?"

King shook his head firmly.

"Absolutely not. This affair should have never come to humans, much less a mother like you…or your son."

The woman creased her brow.

"My son…?"

"Nathaniel is the reincarnation of the Hero's ancient assistant, Navi."

Taking hold of the boy, she shook her head vigorously.

"I can't allow that. He's much too young."

King sighed again, thoughtfully.

"I'm afraid it isn't your choice, at this point. Either Nathaniel goes with the capable Leo, or he stays home and all hope

to find your daughter is dashed."

Mrs. Griffin sat, lips parted but not uttering a word. When she glanced down at her son, Leo could see tears in her

eyes. He remembered the same protective look from his own mother.

"Mrs. Griffin," he spoke up, "You don't need to let him go. I get how important he must be to you. I'm sure we find

someone else to help us, right, King?"

The dog looked up at him, shaking his head. Tense moments of indecision passed.

Leo was about to say something else, as was King, but Mrs. Griffin blinked again and said fluidly, "I understand.

Please take care of him, Leo."

Natey was obviously unaware of the situation, so he bounced off the couch and shouted, "Adventure! Yeah! Where are

we going, huh? Somewhere fun?"

Unsure of that himself, Leo looked to King.

He surveyed his audience and told them, "There is a known Breach near Mount Sanqing." After noticing Leo's

befuddled expression, he added, "It's in China."

Mrs. Griffin whimpered slightly.

"There isn't a closer Breach?"

"There is," admitted King, "but it's at the bottom of Lake Superior. Sanqingshan's would be easier to get to. And less

expensive."

"How are we going to get to China?" asked Leo. "I don't have any money, and I wouldn't expect you to either."

King's eyes grinned.

"Why, Leo, don't underestimate my thinking. I might just have some magic left in these old bones." Then he

sheepishly looked up at Mrs. Griffin. "But I can't drive."

* * *

**A/N- For the record, all of the places I mention on Earth are real. Sanqingshan National Park IS in China. It's really beautiful, I recommend visiting it one day.**

**Sophia, Leo, Azalea, and Natey are mine, and King's actions in this story are by no means the actions intended for him to take by Nintendo.**

**I own nothing but a large can of marbles.**

**-Rajeela**


	14. Chapter 13

For once, Azalea awoke pleasantly.

Fagan wasn't bothering her. All of her time was taken up by visiting Ariel.

"Azalea?" the girl said thoughtfully when she arrived. "I think something's wrong."

"What do you mean?" she asked in return.

"Fagan hasn't showed up for days now."

Azalea laughed. "What's wrong with that?"

"I don't know," said Ariel. "Something just doesn't feel right."

Realizing she was correct, Azalea frowned. Where had the rude Entity gone? She recalled then that she shouldn't care where he was. There

was only one thing she cared about.

"Maybe we can find a way to escape while he's gone," Azalea whispered.

Ariel nodded. Immediately, she looked out to the horizon. What could be out there? Without saying anything to the younger girl, Azalea

began to walk. Every now and then, she looked back to Ariel and her bed, to make sure she wasn't losing sight of them. When their shape

became misty, she decided to go back. There wasn't anything different out here than there was near the beds. She reported this to Ariel.

"What about the floor?" Azalea mumbled.

Boldly, she began to stomp on the transparent ground. Nothing happened, even though it only looked like glass. When she tried punching

through it, all she got were bruised knuckles. Desperate for a weapon, Azalea grasped a post of the canopy bed and pulled it out of place.

With difficulty, she lifted it up and brought it down on the floor heavily.

She grunted, "Would you help me, Ariel?"

Meekly, the girl came over to assist her. Together, they heaved it up and prepared to break the glass.

"Not so fast," a familiar voice said.

The post turned to scalding steam in their hands and floated away. Azalea stepped in front of Ariel as none other than Fagan materialized in

front of them.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"Good to see you too, Fagan," Azalea retorted.

The girl shook violently behind her. Something was different about him. For a moment, Azalea couldn't pinpoint it. Then she saw: his

normally blazing amber eyes were dark blue.

"Where've you been?"

He smiled, but not in his usual way.

"Master Ganon wasn't very happy that I told you your heritage. So I've been enlightened."

Azalea agreed with Ariel: something was off.

"Wouldn't it be 'endarkened'?"

"I suppose so," he growled, smiling evilly.

He approached her, making her step back, and put his hand to her cheek, which was light and icy-cold. She raised her hand and slapped

him. It went right through him, and he came together again a few feet farther away. Ariel scrambled away and hid under the covers of the

bed.

"I could make your blood boil or freeze, girl," he spat.

Azalea was now sure that this wasn't Fagan.

"I'd like to see you try," she challenged, moving back and taking Ariel's hand.

Somehow, she felt confident that they would be all right if he did.

"Fine then," he laughed, and it wasn't his laugh. "Soon you'll know how water feels over fire!"

Azalea saw the atoms in the air suddenly, and watched them begin to move apart rapidly. She willed them to stay closer together, but she

only succeeded in doing that in a small space around her.

Something sharply hurt in her hand, like a hornet that had stung her when she was little at a picnic. The atoms disappeared and she saw

something else: many girls, all wearing extravagant dresses. None of them looked quite the same, though they bore some resemblance.

They held their hands over their hearts, and they all glowed with some blindingly white light. Then their eyes began to glare, and a

sensation of falling was present in Azalea's stomach.

Her eyes opened again and she saw the atoms very far apart in the air around Fagan, but regularly spaced around her.

"You, you little pest!" he screamed, and the atoms started condensing.

In the same way as before, Azalea shifted her power to keeping them apart. A hideous cracking sound reached her ears, and Ariel clapped

her hands over hers.

Fagan looked down at the ground, losing his hold on the atoms around them, and they all saw the glass beneath them was shattering. All at

once, it fell out of place. Shards of it fell all around them, as did the bed Ariel was huddled on. Azalea jumped onto it, holding Ariel tightly.

Fagan should have been safe, as he levitated, but in his surprise, he fell as well.

His malignant eyes met Azalea's, and they warmed again to amber. He turned over in his falling to face her and those eyes widened in

realization. After he looked around at the situation, he clenched his fists and Azalea felt herself and Ariel become very lightweight.

He fell faster than them, and to her utter shock, she couldn't hear or feel anything, but saw him mouth, "I'm sorry."

And he fell into the bottomless steam along with the ruin of the prison.

All Azalea heard after the darkness clouded in was a woman who hissed, "I guess it's my turn now."

* * *

**A/N- Hmm, what will Azalea and Ariel do with their freedom? Will they perhaps encounter other friends? Or foes?**

**And what's a young man to do with a mangy dog and a little boy on a flight to China?**

**Fagan, Ariel, and Azalea are mine. **

**I own nothing but two ticket stubs that I suppose I was saving for sentimental reasons but I can't remember what I used them for.**

**-Rajeela**


	15. Chapter 14

"Be safe," Mrs. Griffin whispered in her son's ear, kissing him on the forehead.

Said King reassuringly, "He will be, Sophia. If all goes smoothly, you'll have him home in a week."

She smiled sadly, bottom lip quivering slightly. She patted Leo on the shoulder affectionately and hurried back to her suburban that idled in

front of the airport's entrance. With one more wave goodbye, she drove off, wiping at her eyes.

Natey seemed somber, for once, saying farewell to his mother for a while. Leo had no problem handling him while they walked to baggage

check.

They just had one suitcase for Natey, which his mother had insisted he take. The woman at the desk asked for his passport. As he reached

into his pocket for it (which he didn't have), he prayed, _Come on, King, work that magic you were talking about! _His fingers met nothing.

_Lousy dog, _he thought bitterly. King nuzzled his other pocket.

Laughing nervously to the attendant, he said, "Wrong pocket."

Out of his other pocket he gladly brought up a passport, up-to-date and matching his face. The process of checking his flight (which King

reserved by some magical means) went smoothly.

As they walked to the terminal, Leo noticed he had a sort of bag on his arm, but it was folded-up and empty. He did a double-take when he

looked down at King, who was now a strawberry-blond Pomeranian strutting alongside him.

Nearly falling over in laughter, he made his way to a seat at a café to get ahold of himself.

"This isn't funny," grumbled the dog, glaring at the floor.

Once Leo was calm again, they sorted out that King would ride coach with them in the canvas bag, as was allowed on the plane. Leo had to

look away while King spoke of business, as the sight of him with bows in his fur was too funny to bear. Natey giggled as he stroked the silky

fur.

"We're going to Sanqingshan National Park, where there is a Breach," the dog explained, trying to shake off the boy's hand.

"What is a Breach, anyway?" interrupted Leo.

"It's a sort of glitch in Hylia's spell to keep the monsters on her planet from harming Earth. They are created by high densities of magic that

shoot off to some other planet randomly and remain as portals to Hylia, under the radar of its goddess. There are very few in existence, and

even fewer on Earth," King patiently told him. "One is atop a mountain in Sanqingshan National Park."

"Why do we need to go to Hylia?" asked Leo. "I thought the Master Sword and Zelda's attendant were on Earth."

"They are," confirmed King, "but Hylia isn't. Only she has any idea where they could be. Earth is a big place, after all. We're going to see

her so she can meet her Hero and tell you where your affectations lie."

Leo sighed. He didn't feel like going to another planet today.

"Fine. We've got to go, our flight leaves in a half hour and we're not even through security."

Thusly, he packed King in the bag, laughing again, and took Natey by the hand and approached security. He was in for a long plane ride.

* * *

**A/N- King could be a dog superhero. Hey, would that count as passport forgery? Poor Leo's in for it.**

**Leo and Natey are mine. King's actions and the events on Hylia are by no means part of Nintendo.**

**I own nothing but a Dora the Explorer wristwatch I got in a McDonald's meal.**

**- Rajeela**


	16. Chapter 15

The mist was beneath Vaati's dangling feet within a few moments of his boarding the chairlift.

The rug of temperate trees threaded with mist reminded him of a thick forest near his home, long ago. He was constantly shaking off

nostalgia. Ghirahim noticed.

"You've lost your strength," he remarked quietly, so not to disturb the third person on the chairlift.

"Maybe I have," responded the mage, looking up to the cylindrical mountaintops.

Ghirahim glanced at his watch.

"You'll have to get it back soon. It's time to go."

After shooting his companion a look, Vaati arched his fingers and shifted his eyes to the west. Screams erupted and echoed across the

mountains as a wave of a zephyr came past, shaking the chairlifts terribly. The tourists all barely hung on above the trees.

Vaati and Ghirahim, however, clandestinely unbuckled themselves and fell. The man who was sitting next to them held on for his life and

yelled something in Cantonese. Vaati flipped over and blasted a wind into his face so that he couldn't see them land. Because they didn't hit

the ground: Ghirahim broke himself apart and fixed himself safely past the branches on the forest floor. Vaati parted the layer of leaves and

willed the wind to slow his fall. Then they were both safe from the view of any mortal, and very near to their destination.

Smoothing down his silk business suit, Ghirahim explained, "The Breach is somewhere up the side of this mountain. It's difficult to exactly

locate it, but I am certain it is close."

He began walking uphill. Vaati hastily followed, unnerved by the darkness under the trees. He was a little put out that the Demon Lord

hadn't commended him on his use of winds. It had gone much better than he had expected.

There was a nauseatingly strong presence of magic that Vaati hadn't felt since the time of Hyrule. It was an ancient magic, and not a lawful

kind. As the ground became unbearably steep, the wind mage begged Ghirahim to use magic to get them to the top.

"It's too dangerous this close to the Breach. The last thing we want to do is open it too soon. It might let out some monsters no one wants

here."

Vaati scowled when he got a splinter in his hand. It was frighteningly large and he couldn't spare a hand to pry it out. So they kept going up

the mountain, clutching stray roots and rock ledges that jutted out. Being Entities, they certainly had an advantage to mortals in strength,

so they scaled the mountain with only some difficulty. Vaati found out soon that he was out of shape, and Ghirahim wasn't. Minutes after he

reached the top, Vaati arrived, breathing hard.

"Glad to see you could make it," Ghirahim mocked. Just as Vaati slumped over, the demon lord cried, "We've got to keep moving! The

Breach is just over there."

The mage obliged, and they ventured over the peak.

"Why are we even going to all this trouble?" asked he tiredly.

"Our Princess isn't on Earth," said Ghirahim bluntly. "She's on Hylia's planet, obviously; the hub of Ganon's evil acts. The Hero will not stay

on Earth if she is on Hylia. You know his reckless abandon; even without weapons, he'd be sure to go. I only hope he has not arrived before

us."

Vaati stopped, in awe of the colossal rock formations and the green coating the valleys between them. He hadn't ever imagined a planet

that could be as fantastical as Hylia. How could he have missed all of this in his millennia on the planet?

"Finally!" groaned Ghirahim in relief. "There's the Breach."

The news attracted Vaati's attention. A jagged piece of architecture sat there inexplicably, a broken arch. Of course, it was only a distraction

from the magic eking from it.

"How does it work?" asked Vaati as they came near to it.

He hadn't ever seen a Breach before.

"All it needs is Hylian magic to counter its own and it will react. My power alone isn't enough to control it, so I need your power too."

Vaati was beginning to see why Ghirahim really wanted his help. Now he felt somewhat expendable, and suddenly mistrusted Ghirahim.

Right before they were close enough to the Breach, Vaati sensed another power, albeit dull.

"King! Why can't you just teleport us up or something?" someone shouted.

Ghirahim nudged Vaati back.

"I told you already!" replied a hoarse whisper. "There's a very sensitive magic up here."

A pause went by, and Ghirahim nearly stepped forward.

"Wait, Leo," said the second voice. "I think someone's up there."

"Well, I can't stop now, can I!" the first voice responded, and it was very close now.

Panicked, Ghirahim put his hand on Vaati's shoulder and separated both of them into tiny fragments. It was difficult to see in this form, as

the parts of Vaati's mind were vaporous. Through blurry vision, he watched a scratched-up hand weakly reach up and grasp the base of the

arch. Something faintly shone in the hand.

"Leo, wait!"

The moment the hand came in contact with the Breach, magic exploded into the air. The climber held on, though, because there was

nothing to break his fall but the ground far below.

To avoid mixing spirits with Vaati, Ghirahim had to reassemble the both of them.

The light settled again, but the magic still buzzed in the air and sizzled on the branches sticking out from the side of the mountain.

Up came a young man, and he heaved himself and an even younger boy onto the mountaintop. After them, a Pomeranian dog, oddly

enough, dangled at the end of the climbing rope. He leapt up the peak and halted in his tiny steps next to the Breach.

"If it isn't the King of Red Lions," Ghirahim snickered.

The wind mage looked between the two of them, a small dog and a businessman who were actually fearsome, all-powerful Entities.

The dog sniffed the air and realized, "Why, Demon Lord Ghirahim, it's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Ghirahim grinned maniacally.

"So I see you've retained your magic all these years? That's more than can be said for this one," he said, almost amiably, and gestured

toward Vaati with his thumb.

King noticed him then, and sniffed around again.

"Yes, you've got quite a weak magic signal. And I don't recognize it anyway. Have we met before?"

"I've not had the pleasure," responded Vaati, furtively watching the young person struggling to sit up on the mountaintop.

He was impressed: even though it was definitely human, there was as potent a magic in it as the Breach.

"Why don't you introduce yourself, then?" prompted Ghirahim.

He then realized that he was still in costume, so without a Holy Odor, he wasn't recognizable. Embarrassed, he pulled off the wig and let his

regular hair show. Lazily, his eyes melted away the contact lenses and blinked them out.

"Wind Mage Vaati," inferred King, voice shaky.

He knew he was outnumbered. The little boy bounded up and looked up at Vaati.

"King, what're those little sparkly things around him?" he asked.

King backed up and asked in return, "You see the magic readings?"

The boy nodded. Vaati had mostly lost the ability to see magic long ago. If he concentrated, sometimes he could, but predominantly, he

only felt power. How could this juvenile mortal do what he couldn't… unless he wasn't entirely mortal?

"Now that introductions are over," Ghirahim broke in, "The Breach has been activated. Either we destroy it, go, or let something else come

here."

The dog bobbed his head, and stepped in front of the arch.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," he growled, and his body began to grow.

The fluff became a mane, the fur a smooth red coat. Claws broke out of his paws, and soon he was an awesome red lion with polka-dotted

bows on his tail. He shook them off and they fell down the mountain.

"I didn't know you could do that," grumbled the young man who still struggled to recover from his climb.

"We aren't looking for a fight, Daphnes," Ghirahim said levelly.

"Then what _are_ you looking for?" interrogated the lion.

"What are _you _looking for?" countered Vaati.

All three scowled at each other.

The little boy screamed.

"What's wrong, Natey?" asked the older boy.

"M-monster!" he stammered.

King spun around to face the Breach and jumped back.

Like emerging from a pool, a thick red leg came out. It slammed down on the mountaintop. Another followed. An enormous, sumo wrestler-

like body followed.

"Jeez, bud," murmured the older boy, holding his friend. "Put on some clothes!"

All the horrific creature wore was a hide loincloth and a crude wooden shield. The fat, small-headed beast roared and stepped toward him.

Vaati tried to blow it off the peak with a wind that would have sent anyone tumbling. This only made it angrier. It reared its pig-like head at

Vaati and snorted. Unluckily for any of them, the monstrosity was also armed with a spear as tall as it.

And it was unhappy.

When it charged at Vaati, King sprang on it, knocking it off course. They battled at the edge of the mountain, lashing out whatever weapons

they had.

"We must destroy the Breach!" Ghirahim shouted over the fighting.

Vaati knew their original mission had now failed. They would have to find another Breach on Earth before the King of Red Lions if there was

any hope of them getting to Hylia. But for now, they needed to seal the Breach.

With all the power he could muster in his haste, Vaati pulled a spiral of air down from the sky to create a freak tornado. The boys held onto

a scraggly tree that grew out of the mountain. King was safe from the storm, but that was only because he was being crushed by the pig-

monster.

Ghirahim shut his eyes and swept his fingers in front of himself, attempting to dissolve the Breach. All he succeeded in doing was breaking

the arch into pieces that blew away in the storm. The magic itself stubbornly clung to Earth.

Things weren't looking well for King, being slowly shoved back. Vaati was inclined to distract the monster from the King of Red Lions, but

he didn't have to.

A dizzying pulse of magic was issued from directly above them. All of them, even the monster, snapped their heads skyward. A figure broke

through the fondue of clouds, and it was free-falling. As it got closer, Vaati saw there were two people. One of them was limp. The second

one flailed around a bit and grabbed the first. Magic appeared around it, and the descent stopped instantly. And then it began again, but

now controlled.

Vaati's power faltered the moment he saw her. He barely noted that Ghirahim's did as well. She set the girl in her arms beside the Breach

before she went faint. Vaati and the older boy, Leo, both moved at the same time. The young woman stood up again, and Vaati froze.

It was Zelda.

* * *

**A/N- You may get tired of the events on this mountaintop soon. The battles take a while. After all, magic isn't as easy as it seems.**

**So, now our heroes/villains have begun to come together. Turmoil (inner and outer) shall ensue! What will the Princess do? How will the Hero save the day? Will Vaati be able to focus his attention on the matter at hand with such a pretty girl watching? Stay tuned!**

**Azalea, Natey, Ariel, and Leo are mine. The actions Ghirahim, Vaati, and King take are not part of Nintendo's canon, whereas the characters most certainly are. **

**I own nothing but a lovely photo album that I can't decide how to fill.**

**- Rajeela**


	17. Chapter 16

"The Goddess Reborn is reborn," intoned Ghirahim.

The ugly beast, which had stopped attacking, rose off of King and began towards her. It lumbered slowly, like a moth to a flame.

Unlike Vaati remembered her, Zelda had a strong, defiant look, and she took a deep breath. From her hands burst a haphazard ball of

power, and it found its way over to the entranced pig-thing. It impacted in the monster's head (which must have been very difficult to aim

at) and sent it reeling back. It dropped its shield, which tumbled off the mountain, but held fast to the spear.

Leo picked up a whipped-up tree limb the very second Vaati searched for another wind. The human acted first. Somehow, he thought that

he could use the branch in some helpful way.

In the moment that he leapt, Vaati felt his own power strengthen. To his ill-intended delight, he could see the magic in the air in perfect

definition. He saw the black power orbiting Ghirahim, and the golden energy from the King of Red Lions and Zelda.

The monster that lied helplessly had no energy. It was being controlled by another power, namely Ganon.

The two boys' gold shine was outlined in blinding blue. It was an all-powerful level of magic. Vaati's own power was an unnoticeable grey, but when he realized _it_, he began to burn an enraged red: this was the Hero. No wannabe or undetermined choice: Leo was the Chosen.

And he was tied with Vaati in the race to Hylia.

Time came back into perspective. Leo and his newfound weapon came down upon the monster, and lines of light spread out from the injury

he made. Zelda's eyes were wide and mortified now. The huge animal made a final struggle, succeeding in grazing Leo's arm with its spear.

Leo yelled out in pain, and he then seemed to become aware of what he was doing. He removed the stick of doom immediately and flung it

off the mountain.

The wind was colder now, flowing of its own accord. Just as the thing that came through the portal disintegrated into black ash, the wind

dusted it off the peak, leaving not a trace of it behind. It dispersed through the air.

The seven people on the mountaintop (excluding the unconscious one) looked at each other, in certain, different ways.

King gazed at Zelda and Leo; Leo at the younger girl; Zelda at the children; the youngest boy everywhere in a daze; Ghirahim at Leo in

suspicion; and Vaati in Zelda in amazement.

Could it really be her? Her powers were very well-toned. She appeared just the same as all those centuries ago, which the wind mage

realized wouldn't make sense. She had been mortal, although she practiced magic.

The first person to move was the younger girl Zelda had appeared with. She stirred and opened her large sapphire eyes, squinting up into

the glaring, reflective clouds above.

"Ariel?" said Leo loudly, crawling over to her.

"Where's… Azalea?" she slurred, beginning to get up.

Leo kept her down.

"Lie down," he commanded. "Relax."

King, with an effort, rose and walked over to them. His body condensed once again into that of a Pomeranian. No one had the energy to

(outwardly) laugh at him.

"I suppose we should introduce each other before we are at odds again," the dog announced.

Zelda began, to Vaati's utter shock: "I'm Azalea Griffin. Apparently, I've got a piece of the Triforce."

The wind mage sighed to himself. She wasn't his Zelda. But she was just as beautiful, and even stronger. He wanted to speak, but found he couldn't.

She grinned when she looked over to the little boy. "This is my brother, Natey."

"Zalea?" he gasped happily, and forgot the altitude of the mountain as he ran to give her a hug.

"Azalea," interjected King, "You are Zelda."

"I know," she said. "Didn't I already say that?"

That made King pause for a moment.

"Azalea, if you already know of your powers, you may know even more than me. Do you know your little brother is Navi?"

He was pleased at her surprise.

"As in the little blinky thing?"

The dog nodded.

"I thought Navi was a girl."

"Gender makes no difference," King chided. "After all, your father was 'Zelda' too."

Vaati hated how her face fell when he said that. He could remember her seeming so sad when he knew her.

Leo cried out in pain. The skin that was peeled off by the monster's spear was very red and exposed.

"Can we save intros for later?" he said through clenched teeth. "This—really hurts."

"It's okay," soothed the little boy, Natey, solemnly.

He went up to Leo, somehow ignoring the gore, and lightly touched his miniature fingers to the wound.

Leo started to yelp, but then he stopped again. Skin grew back over his arm, leaving it just the way it was before. They all stared at him.

"How…?" said Azalea, struck speechless.

Natey shrugged. "It's easy, you know."

Then he went to the woozy girl and touched her forehead. She snapped awake.

"We're alive," she stated in breathlessness.

Leo quickly engulfed her in a life-threatening hug.

"You must be Leo," she said, looking down at him. Self-consciously, he let go of his sister.

"Yeah. I guess we've both got some of the Triforce, then?"

She nodded uncertainly. A pause went by, and Vaati saw Ghirahim's magic glimmering silver, though he wasn't sure why.

"It is a pleasure to have met both of you. As I'm sure you all know, the Wind Mage and I have our own business with Triforce, don't we,

Vaati?"

Glad to use an opportunity to speak, the mage said, "Yes. We do. We have an unfinished battle with the Hero."

He watched Azalea's reaction. Her eyes narrowed and her legs shifted to stand more steadily.

Despite his healed arm, the Hero was still exhausted.

"Sorry, I'm booked solid. Got some…world-saving to do."

Glancing down at the distance he would have to climb, he began to lower himself.

"Wait a minute," called Vaati, and Leo stopped apprehensively. "I don't think the Breach is gone."

Ghirahim and King looked at him in befuddlement.

"I feel some magic still here," he justified.

"I feel it too," agreed Natey.

Suddenly Ghirahim grew a certain expression, as if he thought Vaati had some plan that he was now executing. Truly, he didn't: there was

an odd register of foreign magic still where the arch had been. But, then he decided this was a good chance.

"We'll need all our power to destroy it."

Everyone except Ghirahim and Vaati exchanged doubtful looks.

"You help us destroy it, and we'll go our separate ways without anyone getting hurt," the demon lord offered.

"Azalea," King told her, "You will be traveling with us, now. To keep you safe. You are the Princess, so you may decide."

"I'll help," she said without hesitation. She added, glaring at Ghirahim and Vaati, "But only once."

"What!" cried Leo. "I don't even get a say in this?"

"No," said King bluntly. "Your job is to protect the Princess, not boss her around. You're in charge when she is not here."

Azalea ignored him glaring at her. She instructed her brother to stay back, with Ariel. The rest cautiously stepped forward.

"How do we do this?" asked Leo tautly.

Vaati remained silent.

"It's very difficult," said King. "I doubt we'll be able to control it for long. Just concentrate all your energy onto the Breach in front of us."

"I don't see the Breach," admitted Leo.

"Really?" responded Ghirahim. "I felt it right after the Wind Mage mentioned it."

Vaati thought the signal of magic had been very clear. (He also noticed Ghirahim was fond of referring to him as "the Wind Mage.")

"I did too," Azalea said. "Maybe his powers only work in dire straits."

Leo scowled. Vaati started at a spark of magic.

"Oh really?" he nearly yelled. "I'm just as powerful as any of you."

Ghirahim chuckled, "My, King, the Goddess chose a very self-righteous hero this time!"

Leo clenched his weather-worn hands into fists. Ghirahim still continued to tease him.

Vaati sensed a magic, hot with rage, building up in Leo's fists.

"Lord Ghirahim," the sorcerer tried to warn him.

It was too late. A bolt of yellow-hot magic shot from his hands and hit the mountain. The peak absorbed the light.

For a moment, they waited, frozen in fear and looking at each other. Vaati's fingers went cold. Leo appeared guilty, but Ghirahim didn't in

the least.

King sighed in relief.

"We must cooperate if this is going to work!" he scolded. "And we cannot, under any circumstances, use magic too early or it might—,"

The ground began to quake. Bits of the mountain broke off the edges. Ariel dragged Natey closer to the center.

"It's reacting!" proclaimed King.

"No kidding!" replied Azalea.

"We've got to get out of here!" yelled the dog, and Vaati attempted to summon a wind.

The currents refused to come closer. They spiraled around the mountain, catching up the tops of trees and boulders. None of them could

escape using magic. They couldn't jump down because of the uncontrollable tornado around them.

The only exit was the gaping hole opening up near one edge of the mountain. That route didn't look any friendlier than the others.

Caught between two areas of disaster, they were forced together in a clump.

Out of the corner of his eye, Vaati saw something move. It was a bony hand on a disembodied arm; spindly, black, and dripping with

darkness.

"Look out!" he cried, bringing the others' attentions.

But they couldn't do anything. It swayed back and forth menacingly, facing them. Then it thrust out, toward Azalea. She clumsily moved

back, almost knocking King off the side with her heel. The hand missed, retracted, and prepared to strike again.

They each were at the ready in the case that the hand targeted them.

All except for Natey.

The hand wiggled its tapered fingers and reached out to the littlest boy.

Leo and Azalea both jumped, but the boy reached Natey first. The awful creature enclosed itself around both Leo and Natey, and pulled

them into the pit.

Said pit imploded the second the hand disappeared, leaving Azalea, King, Ariel, Ghirahim, and Vaati the only ones left on the mountaintop.

After the hole was gone, the winds subsided and debris rained down around them. Everything was completely still then.

Azalea fell wordlessly to her knees.

Ariel sat down next to her, repeating to herself, "Leo, Leo, Leo…"

"Where did that _thing _take Natey, King?" Azalea asked weakly.

"That was a Portalmaster," King told them. "They are cousins of the Floormasters, but far more dangerous. Luckily, Leo will be able to

defeat it easily, but he will be somewhere on Hylia when he gets through the Breach."

"So the Hero and his friend are on Hylia, without a guide or weapon, and we are all stuck on Earth without the Hero or a Breach," Ghirahim

summed up.

"It seems we're all worse off," Vaati sighed pessimistically.

"If it had been Ariel or Natey alone," contradicted King, "they would not have survived and neither would we have."

"Why do you act as if the children are so important?" asked Ghirahim.

Azalea put her arm around Ariel, glaring at the demon lord.

"We are all essential to this quilt of fate," answered the dog. "Even you, Ghirahim, are a thread."

"Your metaphors are tiring," Ghirahim huffed under his breath, and turned his back on the others.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Vaati, bemused.

"It is what it sounds like, Wind Mage," sighed King, reluctant to say it: "In order to destroy Ganon as you undoubtedly want to, we must

work together."

They all looked down at the Pomeranian in shock.

Ghirahim exclaimed in disbelief, "Team up? I think some of your fuzz has leaked into your head!"

"After traversing space and time," responded King only half-jokingly, "a small amount of craziness should be allowed. However, this is

something that Hylia herself admitted. If there is any hope of assembling all the pieces of this puzzle, all of those who wish to overthrow

Ganon and his reign of terror must band together."

Barely a second passed before Vaati agreed, "I will partner with you to defeat Ganon."

Ghirahim's jaw dropped.

He began to stammer, but Vaati interrupted him, "Do you expect to be able to do any good while Ganon holds so much power? We've got to

work with them if we're going to defeat him."

This made Ghirahim fall silent, and from the look the wind mage gave him, he knew his intent. Vaati was trying to get across that by

winning the trust of the Hero's friends, they would be much closer to destroying him.

"Then I'll cooperate as well," said the demon lord.

"That's good," said King earnestly, "because I'm afraid I've worn out my magic supply for a while. I won't be able to get down on my own."

"Yes, it's going to be an endeavor to get down from here," grumbled Vaati, looking over the edge of the mountain and imagining how they

could descend without attracting attention.

"We should get going," said Azalea, getting to her feet and pulling Ariel along with her. "And now to try something out!" she said more

cheerily, to boost Ariel's spirits. "Hold on tight!"

Ariel wrapped her hands around the older girl's waist and closed her eyes as Azalea jumped off the peak. Of course, she used magic to bend

gravity and slow her fall, and cheered loudly to find she was in one piece on the forest floor.

Vaati and Ghirahim leapt off as well, glad to be rid of that mountain, and Vaati could hear King say as he floated on the magic wind, "I can

see the headlines now…"

* * *

**A/N- Look who it is, back from the dead. I am ashamed. 2 weeks without a single update. Truly, my computer wasn't working due to a really nasty virus, but there are no excuses. *sob***

**So here's an extra long chapter for you readers. Thank you for your patience.**

**A special shout-out to a reviewer whose pen name was 87, though there didn't seem to be any way for me to respond to him or her. **

**If he or she is reading, I want to thank you for your kind, thought-out review. It's really appreciated! Also, about the gluten-free ramen, I find it at places like Kroger and health food franchises like Whole Foods in the Midwest. Honestly, it is a bit more expensive than regular ramen, because of the whole gluten-free schtick. If you aren't in the US, I'm afraid my knowledge is limited. I hope I could be of help! **

**Also, thank you to Isagonj, the creator of my avatar (which I will begin to use soon) and a large amount of others on his/her thread on Pokestadium. If you are looking for a great avatar, I recommend Isagonj's site. **

**Aaaaanyway, Ariel, Natey, Leo, and Azalea are mine. Vaati, Ghirahim, King, and Floormasters, among other monsters, belong to Nintendo, and their roles in this fanfic is not part of the canon. **

**- Rajeela**


	18. Chapter 17

The hand's grip pushed the air out of Leo.

The Breach itself was cool and breezy, so dark that he couldn't see his own hands. The air burned his skin like acid. It was obviously evil

magic.

He could feel Natey struggling to breathe next to him.

_Okay, let's get some magic going, _thought Leo, painstakingly closing his fists in the hand's grasp.

With all the ferocity he could muster in his oxygen-robbed head, Leo tried to perform the same trick that had just reactivated the Breach.

For a few moments, while nothing happened, Leo began to think that both he and Natey would be strangled before the hand took them anywhere.

The glow began very dimly, but it strengthened as Leo began to hope again. The hand stopped moving, and light spread lines through it like

spider-webbing on a broken windshield. It then shattered, as if it were nothing but glass, and fell into the infinite darkness below them.

Leo caught a lifeless Natey, and found that they hovered in the nothingness. The only feature was him and the golden light shining ruddily

around them.

He really had no idea of what to do after that. Which way would lead him out?

Just as he began to move, he picked up the sound of something humming softly, like a dinosaur's growl. Then a gigantic beast, stocky and

completely covered in feathery black scales, materialized out of nothing. Without eyes, its mouth opened and revealed endless rows of

silver teeth, each one as big as a house. A baleen whale of death, it floated over to them and widened its maw, and sucked them in.

Leo and Natey sat up in horror at once.

They noticed each other, breathing hard, and then looked all around.

The trees above them were jade-leaved, swaying in the springy breeze. The grass below it was so healthy it seemed to be candy, so shiny

and bright. Tiny dots of color clustered around the bases of trees; wildflowers.

Holding his head, Leo said, "This has got to be the craziest day of my life."

Natey's blue eyes turned green in the light as he gazed up at the trees.

"I know where we are," he whispered so quietly that Leo didn't immediately pick up on it.

"Really? Where are we?" Leo asked as if he were the young, ignorant one here.

"We're on Hylia," said the little boy, "near where the Kokiri and the Great Deku Tree… were."

"Were?" Leo repeated.

Natey nodded.

"None are here now. Someone…killed them all."

Leo knew at once Ganon must have wiped them out.

"Why did they leave the forest alone?" he mused.

The younger boy shook his head.

Seeing that they would need to go, Leo got to his feet, brushing his jeans clean of the grass and smashed flowers.

"Jeez, watch where you materialize," kvetched a muffled voice.

Leo looked around in surprise. Natey immediately turned to where Leo had just been sitting. There was what looked like a large, splayed-

out weed, which Leo had apparently been sitting on.

The boys both jumped when a face popped up. It seemed to be part of the stout plant, its mouth made of vines and eyes nothing more than

two holes in the entwined stalks. It spit out grass and seeds.

"Well, bud?" it demanded in its nasal voice. "Got anything to say to me?"

"Sorry," Leo said in a daze, "I've really got to work on my randomly-showing-up-in-a-strange-place skills."

"No kidding," grumbled the weed, which Leo recollected to be a Deku scrub, if they were on Hylia. "Get off my lawn," said the scrub, "before

I sic the Dark Guards on you two."

"Yeah, we'll just have to get going now," Leo said, pulling Natey to his feet.

As they began to walk away, Leo felt a sudden pain on his backside. The plant had shot a large seed at him.

"That's for being so careless," said the weed. "You should thank me for being generous. I've just taught you an important lesson: never sit

on a Deku scrub."

Then it disappeared into the ground, leaving the two boys to try to find their way through the forest.

* * *

**A/N- Now, if any of you readers have ever studied the chronological order of the Zelda games, you'll know it gets REALLY confusing. So bear with me, the geography might get a little deviated.**

**I own Leo and Natey. Deku scrubs and the setting belong to Nintendo. **

**Have a good night!**

**-Rajeela**


	19. Chapter 18

It was difficult to find the next Breach, to say the least.

King and Ghirahim argued over where would be the most efficient place to go. Azalea could hear them shouting two rooms away. Ghirahim

had reserved the best hotel room they could find, because he apparently had so much money to spare.

"I'm telling you, the Breach under the Sphinx would be closest!"

"I never said it wasn't closest, Daphnes! Think about how many tourists would be around there. There's no way we could get past

unnoticed."

"It's definitely the most monetarily useful choice."

"Money is not the issue here."

"Yes, I can see this hotel room! I just… get airsick easily."

"Really? Why don't you just meet us at Superior then? We can surely get along without you."

"Oh no, I'm not letting you out of my sight, Demon Lord."

There was a pause, followed by Ghirahim's long overdramatic sigh. Then they began to negotiate meeting each other (roughly) halfway by

going to Iceland.

Ariel giggled quietly, watching them fight in the next room. It _was_ a very odd sight.

Azalea sat a room from Ariel, on a green chair against the wall. The sorcerer, Vaati, sat on the couch opposite to hers, playing with his

fingers and occasionally looking up at her. The moment she would meet his gaze, he looked down again. She found this very strange.

"Is something wrong?" she asked eventually, because he looked so ill at ease.

"No!" he said suddenly. "Nothing at all."

They went back to silence, and Azalea thought to herself how weird this all had been so far. And she knew it would only get weirder.

She found Vaati's blood-red eyes especially unnerving. They were murderous, though he himself hadn't acted that way. His hair was odd as

well, but that was only because Azalea wasn't used to people having natural hair like that.

Ghirahim came in unexpectedly and flopped on the couch next to Vaati, forcing the mage to move over. King walked in more slowly, as he

was very tired from his work on the mountain. Azalea let him lay down on her lap, which was no trouble because he was a small dog.

"Why aren't you in human form like them?" Azalea asked him, indicating the Entities on the couch.

"I'm an old man, Azalea," he sighed. "My power on Earth isn't strong enough to let me be any more magnificent a creature."

"Then why aren't _you_ in your regular form?" she proceeded to ask Ghirahim, knowing how he normally looked.

He grinned maliciously and said, "Well, if that is what the Princess would prefer…"

"If you show even an inch of your normal self, you'll scar the younger girl and I'll hold that against you forever," warned the drowsy dog.

Ghirahim put up his hands in surrender and said, "Well, I wouldn't want to inflict the rage of Daphnes Pomeranian Hyrule."

He laughed at his own joke, and Vaati smiled.

"You know, Azalea," said King, on a different string of thinking, "If you are the Princess, that means that you are my great-great-great-

great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter."

This was too unfathomable for Azalea to grasp, so she nodded and stroked the dog's fur as he fell asleep.

Several minutes later, Ghirahim asked quietly, "Where have you been? Where were you taken?"

Azalea blinked, as she hadn't expected him to be so blunt.

"I don't know, to tell the truth. An Entity took me to this huge prison. The only way I could get out was by rising the temperature and

making it drop very quickly. See, the floor was made of glass. Then, it broke, and it seemed Ariel and I would die, but the Entity… I think he

saved us."

This was the only time she had thought of Fagan since she arrived back on Earth, but then she realized that he must have saved her after

all.

"Who was this Entity?" asked Vaati, leaned forward.

"He called himself Fagan, the Master of Steam."

Ghirahim and Vaati exchanged a glance and looked at Azalea again, incredulously.

"Fagan?" reiterated the demon lord. "I remember the brat: he couldn't do a single useful thing with his powers. But he seemed contented

with himself…"

"How on Hylia could he have had the power to abduct you?" asked Vaati.

"He must be in league with Ganon," growled Ghirahim.

King stirred on Azalea's lap, but didn't awaken.

"What all did he…do to you?" queried Vaati lowly.

"Fagan didn't do anything but tease me," Azalea recalled. "But he also told me about my family's past. Near the end of my imprisonment,

he disappeared for a while. When he came back, he acted very weirdly. His eyes were a different color, and he said that Ganon had

'enlightened' him. Then he attacked us with magic, but I defended us. That was when the floor broke, and I didn't know what to do. Then

he seemed to become normal again, and he kind of dematerialized Ariel and me, and fell into that abyss under the prison. The next thing I

knew, I was falling through the air over a mountain range and Ariel was knocked out beside me."

After she had finished with her tale, Ghirahim had his eyes narrowed in thought, and Vaati looked very concerned.

"Fagan was obviously working for Ganon," said the demon lord soon after. "The way that Ganon punishes his servants is by 'enlightening'

them, or brainwashing them. Then they have no will of their own."

Vaati nodded in agreement. He added to Ghirahim's explanation, "I've never heard of anyone escaping Ganon's power like that before. It

must have been because of you, Azalea."

Azalea did remember that the moment Fagan looked her in the eyes, he regained awareness. She felt guilty, knowing he had sacrificed

himself to save her from whatever was there below that prison.

Ghirahim smiled mischievously and said, "Well, you know, it has always been said that any man or beast that lays his eyes on Zelda falls in

love with her."

Azalea visibly blushed, as did Vaati, and he looked at his shoes. Ghirahim laughed raucously, and left, proclaiming that he needed to clean

up before bed.

Just after him, Vaati excused himself, and Azalea wasn't going to stop him.

Soon after, Ariel came to sit on the couch and told her about all the cool things she had found in the room.

"I counted all the power outlets: 26. There are also 6 lamps in here! Can you believe it? We have room service and 144 channels on the TV.

I know because I flipped through them all while I called room service. I got ice cream for everyone! But, I guess King can't have any, so I'll

have to eat his. Oh! And did you know they even put a Bible in here? You wouldn't believe how many towels are in the closet…"

* * *

**A/N- Yes, obviously there are Breaches below the Sphinx, at the bottom of Lake Superior, in a volcano in Iceland, in the Bermuda Triangle, and in a discreet band room in a middle school in southern Indiana. **

**Azalea and Ariel are mine. Ghirahim, Vaati, and King Daphnes Pomeranian Hyrule belong to Nintendo. The happenings in this increasingly ridiculous FanFiction are not Nintendo canon. **

**So, as you can see, I own nothing but a bag of overly-thick rubber bands. **

**- Rajeela**


End file.
